Don’t doubt Doughty

In the first game of the weekend versus Houston Baptist she scored a career-high 30 points in a pivotal 75-71 road win. She followed that up with a 27-point performance against Walla Walla, in which she set a UVU record for three pointers made in a game with eight.

“I think I was just in the flow,” Doughty said. “I just took advantage of what the defense gave us.”

The Walla Walla defense gave Doughty and the Wolverines whatever they wanted. UVU opened the game on a 31-3 run and led 41 at the break with Doughty scoring 21 of her 27 in the first half.

“Obviously, the way Tina shot the ball, I was happy to see that,” said Head Coach Cathy Nixon. “She played so well down in Houston on Saturday; we didn’t have a lot of fans that were there to see it, but Tina is a very special player offensively. We’ve been trying to get her to match that with her defense, and it’s coming along. She’s starting to understand what kind of player she can be.”

The Wolverines ended up beating the Wolves by a score of 87-23, their largest margin of victory this season.

“This is a game that was important that we played well because we wanted to build some momentum and not have it set us back,” Nixon said.

Houston Baptist turned out to be a much more difficult opponent than Walla Walla. To make matters worse, the Wolverines found out that their leader, Sammie Jensen, would not be making the trip due to an overnight stay in a hospital to relieve sharp pains in her stomach. She also did not play against Walla Walla but is not expected to be out for very long.

Trailing by 11 in the middle of the second half against the Huskies, Doughty led an impressive second half comeback to give the Wolverines a much needed road victory in conference play.

Doughty wasn’t the only player who had a career night. Senior forward Kaycee Mansfield added 28 points and 11 rebounds to go along with the 30 that Doughty scored. Sarah Clement collected a career high 10 rebounds in her first start of the season in place of Jensen.

“I can’t imagine a better team effort collectively,” Nixon said. “Every player was working hard.”

The fact that the Wolverines were able to overcome the absence of Jensen during this winning streak is a testament to the resolve of this team. Even with Jensen’s injury and Alle Finch Cardwell’s broken nose earlier in the season, the Wolverines have found a way to keep winning.

“One of the goals of the staff is to help build confidence,” Nixon said.

They’ve done a tremendous job. Doughty is playing the best basketball of her career, and the Wolverines are finding ways to win. If Doughty can continue to play at such a high level when Jensen returns, they Wolverines would only need a couple more conference road wins to capture the regular season conference championship.